Ask an employee about what they think about artificial intelligence (AI), and more likely than not, they’ll tell you they’re afraid of losing their job. And while research suggests more employers are turning to AI, they’re not using it to replace people. Instead, they’re using it to watch them.

Workplace surveillance technology took off during the pandemic as more people began to work remotely. Now, a number of high-profile employers, including Starbucks (SBUX), Walmart (WMT) and AstraZeneca (AZN.L), are among those using AI to keep tabs on messages sent between employees.

Surveillance can include monitoring of emails, files and webcams on work computers, as well as tracking how much someone is typing. Some programmes log keystrokes, take surreptitious screenshots and even activate employees’ webcams without them knowing.

According to a TUC poll conducted in 2023, at least 60% of UK workers believe they have been subjected to surveillance and monitoring while working.

Knowing you’re being watched can have negative psychological effects, such as anxiety and stress. And new research suggests that AI — more so than human monitoring — can make people want to quit their jobs. Rachel Schlund and Emily Zitek, researchers from Cornell University, found that using AI to monitor employees' behaviour and productivity can lead them to complain more, be less productive and want to quit — unless the technology can be framed as supporting their development.

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Problems can occur when AI monitoring is used to evaluate an employee’s performance because it may not provide enough context. If AI is measuring productivity by keystrokes, an employee who isn’t typing because they’re in meetings, researching or even listening to training sessions may be unfairly penalised. Often, it’s hard to measure how well someone is performing simply by tracking their output.

“Employees may express concerns about AI’s ability to evaluate their performance accurately,” explains Schlund. “They may worry that AI might misinterpret their behaviour or lack the human discretion needed to understand context, leading to potentially unfair evaluations.”

The negative connotations surrounding AI can also affect how we feel about it. A lot of the discourse around AI is centred on the replacement of humans and ultimately, job losses.

“There is a fear in some fields that AI might put people out of work, which could cause some other general negative views of AI in the workplace in certain contexts,” says Schlund.

Also, monitoring employees can undermine autonomy and make an employee feel like they aren’t trusted. A Danish study of more than 4,000 people found a positive association between job autonomy — being able to work independently — and psychological wellbeing.

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Meanwhile, as worker surveillance has increased, so have feelings of distrust and low morale among workers. It can feel ethically murky, especially if an employee isn’t aware they are being watched. And this invasion of privacy can have a negative effect on job satisfaction, happiness, and productivity.

“What is new about AI surveillance is that workers are sometimes not aware of it, or how the data collected is being used,” says Professor Carl Benedikt Frey, future-of-work director at the Oxford Martin School, Oxford University. “And in many instances, monitoring might happen in our homes and environments we consider to be private. We can be monitored around the clock, and around the world, regardless of where we are and what we do.”

Simply using AI to make sure people are being productive can backfire as it can lead to presenteeism. According to a survey by Express VPN, 38% of employees feel more pressure to be actively online than doing actual productive work. A fifth said they felt dehumanised and more than a quarter said they felt unappreciated and resentful towards their employer.

One of the key problems is that workers don’t always know how the data is being used. There are many legitimate reasons why an employer may choose to monitor workers, for example, to ensure people are complying with company policies or to protect sensitive information.

Indeed, Schlund highlights that monitoring can be helpful — and people are more receptive to it — if it is used in an assistive capacity, like how a smartwatch tracks steps to help people reach daily fitness goals.

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Yet research by Resume Now found that two-thirds of employees have some fears around AI tech. “It can also foster distrust among employees, especially if there is a lack of transparency about how the monitoring is being conducted and how the data may be utilised to analyse performance and work tasks,” says Heather O'Neill, career expert at Resume Now.

“This lack of transparency can lead employees to feel like they are under constant scrutiny without a basic understanding of how AI may help each individual employee.”

Also, relying solely on AI can lead employers to overlook the human problems that contribute to low productivity, says Sophie O’Brien, founder of Pollen Careers.

“If an employee isn’t as productive, then a human manager can delve a little deeper into why that might be, are they feeling debilitated by stress or do they have something more personal going on? There’s room for context with humans, which seems to be missing from AI monitoring software,” she says.

“Personally, I think it’s more effective to give employees the independence and responsibility to answer for themselves. Let them take ownership and responsibility for their roles. I think it’s also important for their development to take responsibility for their own workload and how they get work done. After all, they’re adults and should be treated as such.”

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